This invention relates to tire repair more particularly to a tire repair plug and installation tool for repairing punctures in vehicle tires.
One problem in the prior art is that punctured tires are deemed unreliable and often discarded or after repair used as spares. This practice is wasteful and has added to the cost of ownership of motor vehicles. Another problem is that mounting spare tires on the road is difficult, dirty and often dangerous.
Roberts U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,161 discloses a headless plug and tool for repairing a punctured tire mounted on a vehicle. The plug is forcibly inserted into a puncture by a rod-shaped tool which engages an aperture on the axis of the plug. After the plug has been installed, the tool is withdrawn and a cylindrical core is installed in the aperture.
Several problems were encountered during attempts to apply Roberts U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,161. One problem was that withdrawal of the installation tool from the plug caused partial withdrawal of the plug from the puncture. This problem was due to the radial compression of the plug causing the plug to tightly grip the tool.
Another problem was that the forcible insertion of the core into the plug tended to push the plug into the tire.
Another problem was that the plug was not effective in all cases for sealing puctures, particularly in thin sections of a tire, by way of example, tread grooves, sidewalls and excessively worn treads.